Car-wheel



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. FERGUSON.

GAR WHEEL 7 No. 331,292. Patented Dec. 1,1885.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. J. FERGUSON.

CAR WHEEL No. 331,292. Patented Dec; 1, 1885.

YM A

Wfmemsaa UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

JAMES FERGUSON, OF BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,292, dated December1, 18:85.

Application filed April 3, 1884. Serial No. 126,482; (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FERGUSON, of Bridgewater, in the county ofPlymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Wrought- Metal Oar-Wheels, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to car-wheels, and more particularly to thecar-wheel shown and described in my application for Letters Patent filedAugust 8, 1883, Serial No. 103,143; and it consists in the improvementstherein hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a wheel-blank for making thewheel. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection through the completed wheel. Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of aportion of said section, to show the parts more clearly.

A is the car-wheel blank, which is formed by riveting to the plate a aforged wrought iron or steel flange, a and a smaller flange or hoop, a,by rivets b I), to hold them in position, and then placing the whole ina furnace of proper construction, and raising them to a welding-heat andwelding them together in a power-press of suitable construction at oneoperation. To the plate a is also riveted and welded at the same timeanother flange, a but this is not essential to the form of the blank,and may be omitted, if desired. Each of the blanks A has formed on itsperiphery a projecting flange, c entirely around it. After the describedwelding process two of the blanks A are placed together, with the outerfaces of the parts formed from flanges a and c abutting against eachother, and a rim, B, having a groove, b, in its internal annularsurface, to fit the broad flange formed by the flanges a a of the twoblanks coming together,and having that internal annular surface of nogreater diameter than the periphery of the blanks on each side of theflanges a, is heated to expand it sufficiently, and the two blanksslipped into this rim, and the latter. is then cooled and caused tocontract around the blanks, and thus form a hollow wrought-ironcar-wheel body joined together without bolts or rivets. In order toaccomplish this joining perfectly, care is taken to proportion the depthof the groove b in the internal surface of the rim B with relation tosuch internal surface on the side where the blanks A are thusintroduced, and to proportion the corresponding projection of theannular external flange formed of the parts a which is to fit into it totheknown capacity of expansion of the metal rim (of the diame ter used)when heated. This insures the blanks A A being firmly clamped againsteach other and to therim B by its contraction.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the blanks A A into the rim B,as described, I make the shoulder I) on one side of the groove b deeperthan the one on the side where the blanks A A are to be inserted, andturn off the periphery of the corresponding blank A outside of itsflange a to correspond and of smaller diameter than the periphery of theother blank. \Vhen the two blanks are slipped into the rim B, asdescribed, the annular shoulder b arrests theblanks at the proper placeto enable the rim to close accurately around the compound flange a, asdescribed. This shoulder b is always placed on the inside of the wheelwhen in use, and as the heaviest strains against the tire and rim B arealways in an outward direction, their tendency to separate the rim andblanks A A is thus resisted to any desired extent by this shoulder,which can be made of any depth required, as is not the case with thecorresponding shoulder on the other side of the groove b.

In order to overcome both the tendency of the tire to slip off the rim Bsidewise and to fly off in a radial direction if it bursts, I form theannular grooves in the rim B UT) of an annular form, and so as to leavean annular lip of metal all around outside of each groove, the open sideof each groove being toward the inner face of the wheel, and it beingmade sidewise into an enlarged part of the rim B.

Upon corresponding projections inward from the inner face of the tire O,I make annular tongues b 12 of suitable size to fit closely into thegrooves bb when the tire is in place on the rim. By heating the tireslightly and pressing it into place the tongues b b will prevent itsflying off radially in case it should burst, while the solid metalbehind the grooves b b prevents the tire slipping off the wheel outward.

To prevent the tire slipping off inward,

I turn a corner oft from its inner edge, leaving a groove, 0, aroundnext the rim B. I also have formed on the rim B a lip, b", adjacent tothis groove, and when the tire is in place on the rim I turn over thislip with a powerful hammer or press into the groove 0 and swage it intothe groove solidly, as shown in Fig. 3. This prevents the tire fromslipping inwardly off the rim B.

It will be observed that in my processof forming the wrought-iron wheelthe solidity of the body of the wheel depends upon the groove 12 beingmade to close together the faces a of the blanks A A (by its accuratelyfitting and being shrunk over the outer flange of the blanks formed bytheir two parts a a) in a transverse direction.

I do not claim in this application the blank A, nor the combination,with the rim B, of two such blanks, as described, the same being thesubject of another application filed by me August 8, 1883, No. 103,143;but

What I do claim as my invention is 1. In combination with the rim B,provided with a deeper shoulder, 12 on one side of the groove 12 thanthe corresponding shoulder on the other side of said groove the blanks AA, provided with projections a a, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the rim B, provided with the annular groove 1),the tire 0, provided with the corresponding annular tongue, I),substantially as described.

3. In combination with the rim B, provided with the annular groove b andflange b the tire 0, provided with the corresponding tongue, b, and thegroove or recess a, substantially as described.

JAMES FERGUSON.

